Tag Archives: Vino Con Vista Adventures in Barcelona

The Cathedral of Barcelona has an official name; Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia. Barcelona’s huge Gothic cathedral, La Seu, is the third church to stand on this site.

The 4th-century original (partly visible in the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat) was flattened in Al-Mansur’s raid in 985; the second, a Romanesque church built from 1046 to 1058 by Ramón Berenguer I, only a doorway remains.

Inside the church, you will find the Sepulchres of Count Ramón Berenguer I (left) and his third wife, Almodis de la Marche (right).

Count Ramon Berenguer I was the founder of the Romanesque cathedral which was later replaced by the current Gothic building.

In 1298, Jaume II began the current church.

The church is dedicated to Eulalia, a 13 year old local girl who refused to accept Roman emperor Diocletian’s demand to recant her her faith in Christianity.

She was subjected to severe torture by the Roman army; as a result of the torture she endured, Eulalia died on February 12, 303.

Diocletian’s retaliation was 13 forms of torture (in accordance with her age); the young Great Martyr put in a barrel, studded with internal spikes, and rolled down from the top of one of the hills. This was followed by decapitation.

Inside the secluded Gothic Cathedral’s cloisters, you’ll find a pond with 13 white geese in the Fountain of the Geese (Font de les Oques), to represent this torture. The Cloisters were completed in 1448.

The young virgin-Christian is considered the heavenly patroness of the city.

It is traditionally believed that she was tortured on an EX shaped cross; always depicted with this cross as the instrument of her martyrdom. Below you can see a relief of Eulalia in the Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia. A street called ‘Baixada de Santa Eulalia’ (Santa Eulàlia’s descent), in the heart of the Gothic quarter is where they rolled her in the barrel.

Watch my video to see inside the Cathedral. You can also see the geese in my video:

Here’s Saint Eulalia’s Crypt designed by the Mallorcan Jaume Fabre, who was in charge of the cathedral works from 1317 to 1339. The shallow vault is held in place by an enormous keystone. The crypt holds the relics of the co-patroness of Barcelona, Santa Eulàlia, who lies in a beautiful 14th-century alabaster sarcophagus, attributed to Pisan sculptor Lupo de Francesco, a follower of Giovanni Pisano.

Look for the crypt under the high altar, where the relics of St Eulalia repose. The scenes on her tomb show the 13 means of torture, including being thrown naked into a vat of starving fleas, and an attempted seduction by the handsome son of the Roman commander.

Nothing could sway her, so her torturers lopped off her breasts and crucified her on an X shaped cross. Thirteen, (her age when all this happened), is Eulàlia’s special number: to gain her protection at sea, a mariner was obliged to visit her tomb 13 Fridays in a row.

Santa Eulalia’s Festival (above), Celebrating the bravery of Saint Eulalia (below). She died on the 12th of February in the year 303, and on this date the main celebrations of the festival take place.

A pretty pavilion in the Cloister, holds the Fountain of Sant Jordi, with a figure of St. George slaying the dragon.

Barcelona Cathedral’s chancel keystone below, depicts Saint Eulalia on a starry background and flanked by the coat of arms of Ramon Berenguer I.

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The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and is representative of some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to AD 500, but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2500 BC. Using gravity, water is channelled from underground s […]

The nine Sacri Monti (Sacred Mountains) of northern Italy are groups of chapels and other architectural features created in the late 16th and 17th centuries and dedicated to different aspects of the Christian faith. In addition to their symbolic spiritual meaning, they are of great beauty by virtue of the skill with which they have been integrated into the s […]

The monumental complex at Caserta, created by the Bourbon king Charles III in the mid-18th century to rival Versailles and the Royal Palace in Madrid, is exceptional for the way in which it brings together a magnificent palace with its park and gardens, as well as natural woodland, hunting lodges and a silk factory. It is an eloquent expression of the Enligh […]

Construction of this palatine chapel, with its octagonal basilica and cupola, began c. 790–800 under the Emperor Charlemagne. Originally inspired by the churches of the Eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire, it was splendidly enlarged in the Middle Ages.

In the district of Port Louis, lies the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour diaspora began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called ‘the great experiment’ in the use of ‘free’ labour to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured […]

Located inside the Arctic Circle in the central part of West Greenland, the property contains the remains of 4,200 years of human history. It is a cultural landscape which bears witness to its creators&apos; hunting of land and sea animals, seasonal migrations and a rich and well-preserved tangible and intangible cultural heritage linked to climate, navi […]

The abbey, together with its monumental entrance, the famous &apos;Torhall&apos;, are rare architectural vestiges of the Carolingian era. The sculptures and paintings from this period are still in remarkably good condition.

The Convent of St Gall, a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery, was, from the 8th century to its secularization in 1805, one of the most important in Europe. Its library is one of the richest and oldest in the world and contains precious manuscripts such as the earliest-known architectural plan drawn on parchment. From 1755 to 1768, the conventua […]

The church, baptistry, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops in this early Christian holy city were built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in A.D. 296.

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The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and is representative of some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to AD 500, but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2500 BC. Using gravity, water is channelled from underground s […]

The nine Sacri Monti (Sacred Mountains) of northern Italy are groups of chapels and other architectural features created in the late 16th and 17th centuries and dedicated to different aspects of the Christian faith. In addition to their symbolic spiritual meaning, they are of great beauty by virtue of the skill with which they have been integrated into the s […]

The monumental complex at Caserta, created by the Bourbon king Charles III in the mid-18th century to rival Versailles and the Royal Palace in Madrid, is exceptional for the way in which it brings together a magnificent palace with its park and gardens, as well as natural woodland, hunting lodges and a silk factory. It is an eloquent expression of the Enligh […]

Construction of this palatine chapel, with its octagonal basilica and cupola, began c. 790–800 under the Emperor Charlemagne. Originally inspired by the churches of the Eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire, it was splendidly enlarged in the Middle Ages.

In the district of Port Louis, lies the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour diaspora began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called ‘the great experiment’ in the use of ‘free’ labour to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured […]